5. RunTilt run November 13
RunTilt run November 13 Sunday 4.00 PM Margaret Island fountain
This will be the first winter RunTilt. This will be the first RunTilt light. There's a good chance the temperature will be around 0 degrees, or more likely -2, which means there will be as few of us as at any Nike Running event, i.e., humiliatingly few. A significant portion of people are huge cowards, because below 15 degrees, they won't even go for a run, let alone pop down to the supermarket; instead, they stay in their sweatpants and order something online. Until you can step out of this comfort zone and brave a little cold, you are not even minimally ready to change your current lifestyle. These are little validation points, by the way, by which one's willingness index can be measured...
Winter is the best time for running, believe me, because I literally started my training in -7 to -10 degrees almost a year ago. Below 5 degrees, you don't have much choice, because we messed up, not just a little, but a lot, no other country in Europe has done such a foolish thing as we did… either you run, or you freeze your ass off, and you don't need much more motivation than that. While in summer you easily give up due to the heat, in winter, due to the cold, there's no stopping, you have to keep going, otherwise pneumonia will catch up with you, and if you stop, it's goodbye.
That's why winter running requires some preparation. Dress in layers if possible. The clothing in contact with your body should be moisture-wicking; you should avoid cotton t-shirts, because if you stop during the run, the moisture-absorbing cotton – especially if you're not dressed in layers – will immediately start to draw heat away through evaporation, leading to hypothermia, and you'll be standing there sweaty with a wet top in -1 degree weather. You should dress so that when you go outside, you're still a bit cold, and after 5-10 minutes of warm-up running, you'll feel that pleasant warmth that Dumber also felt when Jim Carrey peed on him on the motorcycle on the way to Aspen.
Hat and gloves are essential! The hat is especially important because 30-40% of the body's heat loss occurs through the head. Anyone who comes without a hat cannot run, at least not at RunTilt. Between +5 and -5 degrees, a thin pair of gloves is sufficient; at -10 degrees, wear thicker knitted gloves. Don't be afraid of the cold, or that your throat will get cold from the cold air, or similar anxieties. Dress properly in layers, but without restricting your body's free movement, don't stop, and there will be no problems. If you can eat chimney cake in -4 degrees in Vörösmarty Square, then you can run in the same cold, obviously, this requires minimal willpower and determination. The Slim3 girls will also be there, though they don't know about it yet, but believe me, they will be.
The group divisions will remain the same. I wanted to add some political reference at the end, but nothing comes to mind, so this post ends here, just like the eurozone.
Speaking of dead things. The Democratic Coalition was formed...
Categories
Group A: under 25 minutes. This will be the royal category; the tough guys will start here. Running 5350 meters in under 25 minutes requires serious physique and fitness. For this, you need to be able to run 4 minutes 30-4.40 minute kilometers.
Group B: under 30 minutes. Most people will be here. To complete the island lap in under 30 minutes, you need a time of 5.30 – 5.50, which is easily achievable for an average fit person. Anyone who is overweight, smokes, or hasn't run for at least half a year, should probably not force themselves into this group.
Group C: under 35 minutes. I would be happiest if only 20% of Budapest's population could run around the island in this amount of time. This group will consist of those who will struggle to complete the distance, and not at all because they are not physically capable. The biggest inhibiting factors will be in their heads, because those who start here are not yet, or are very hardly able to step out of their comfort zone, and they still perceive the challenges of sport as suffering rather than easily surmountable obstacles. This group will bring out everything I talk about on this blog, that you have to overcome your own weaknesses. Everyone should be able to run 5 km, no matter how sedentary their life is; at most, they'll be so exhausted by the distance that they'll feel sick, but they can run it, and at the finish line will come that uplifting feeling of "damn, I did it."
Group D: over 35 minutes. Those starting here are the most afraid of the distance. There's a good chance they will stop and complete the rest of the distance by walking, because it's clear to everyone that there's no stopping, waiting for the bus, and taking it to the finish line. Anyone who stops MUST reach the finish line. If by walking, then by walking, but the point is that anyone who comes to RunTilt will move around the island one way or another and must complete the distance. This is the only rule that applies to everyone.
Group D will start first, and the others will follow every 2 minutes, meaning C, then B, then A. This will be great because if you misjudged your physical condition, you can still switch and join a slower group that will be coming behind you, and you can join them. In the 3rd and 4th groups, the goal should be to reach the finish line together, meaning don't leave each other behind. Pull each other along, pay attention to each other, because you came here to move together, and preferably everyone should go home with a sense of accomplishment and achieve a result compared to themselves that they can say to themselves on the way home, "Damn, I never would have thought I could do that..."
